lifeline

Alternative forms

• life-line, life line

Etymology

From life +‎ line.

Pronunciation

• enPR: līfʹlīn' IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪfˌlaɪn/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

lifeline (plural lifelines)

1. A line to which a drowning or falling victim may cling.
2. (by extension) A source of salvation in a crisis.
   • 2012, Melissa Rycroft, My Reality, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     The girls, of course, were my lifeline during this time.

   • 2012, Aaron Dixon, My People Are Rising, Haymarket Books, →ISBN, page 64:

     Slowly I began to fill up some of the emptiness inside—writing had become my lifeline.

   • 2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: Elizabeth line '345s' offer a lifeline for Derby Works”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 8:

     The Government has thrown a lifeline to Alstom's Derby Works, with an offer of an order for ten Class 345 nine-car electric multiple units (EMUs) for the Elizabeth line - but only if the 'price is right'.

3. A means or route for transporting indispensable supplies.
   • 2012, Daniel F. Harrington, Berlin on the Brink, University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN, page 9:

     Planners did not see the access routes as west Berlin's sole lifeline, which now seems instinctive to us.

   • 2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 50:

     It is no real surprise that half the UK's stations and 5,000 miles of route were recommended to close. Nevertheless, some great mistakes were made in Marples' devil-may-care purge that left commuters stranded and seaside resorts without a lifeline.

4. (engineering) A system or structure of vital importance to a community.
5. (nautical) On the deck of a boat, a line to which one can attach oneself to stay aboard on rough seas.

   Synonym: jackstay

6. (underwater diving) A line from the diver to a tender at the surface control point.

   Synonym: tether

7. (palmistry) A particular crease in the palm.

   Synonym: line of life

Further reading

• lifeline on Wikipedia.Wikipedia